In May 2010, Israel was accepted into the OECD, the or

We, Israeli citizens, members of Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within, would like to express our solidarity with the numerous Australians who are involved in the burgeoning BDS campaign in Australia.

Witnessing first-hand the brutality of our government against the Palestinian people, we have joined the July 2005 Palestinian call for a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state of Israel and its institutions.

Free speech in Israel was dealt a severe blow this month when the country’s Parliament passed antiboycott legislation that targets individuals or organizations publicly calling for a boycott against Israel or any area under its control.

Because I believe in ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, equal rights for Palestinians and Jews, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees forced from their homes and lands in 1948, I support boycotting — and calling on others to boycott — all Israeli companies that help perpetuate these injustices.

But this new legal limit on free

The law actually deals with boycotting Israel as a whole - not only settlements

What’s the “Boycott Law” about?  If you ask Israelis that question, particularly those opposed to the law, they’ll probably say that it prohibits calling for boycotts of products produced by Israeli settlements located in territories captured in 1967.  But that’s the wrong answer, which is surprising given how recently the law was passed by the Knesset.  More and more Facebook pages display photographs of Israeli leftists wearing buttons declaring they’re boycotting products from the settlements.

Well, th

The law actually deals with boycotting Israel as a whole - not only settlements

What’s the “Boycott Law” about?  If you ask Israelis that question, particularly those opposed to the law, they’ll probably say that it prohibits calling for boycotts of products produced by Israeli settlements located in territories captured in 1967.  But that’s the wrong answer, which is surprising given how recently the law was passed by the Knesset.  More and more Facebook pages display photographs of Israeli leftists wearing buttons declaring they’re boycotting products from the settlements.

Well, th

Monday, June 27, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will deliberate the “Damage to the State of Israel by Means of Boycott- 2011″ bill. The bill was proposed in the Knesset on July 2010 by head of the coalition, MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and other MK’s. The bill is focused on preventing citizens of Israel from protesting against the occupation by means of initiating a boycott.

Usually in mainstream Israeli political discourse, BDS is the “love” that dare not speak its name.  If the Knesset is seeking to pass a law to criminalize references to the Nakba, all the more so references to the terrible act of ‘delegitimization’ (what an ugly, ungainly word) that is BDS.  It’s simplytreif in polite political discourse.